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Set after
Keys to the Demon Prison
(No Dragonwatch)
⟢ Kendra & Seth ⟣
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Nightmares plague the siblings after Zyzzx.

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Trigger Warnings:
Nightmares, Death, Derealization

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"You can finally rest."

Agad's last words to the siblings before they left that demon island were so simple. And at first, that simplicity was true.

That first time Seth slept afterward had been on a plane. He had been completely passed out—no dreams, no jostling, no waking up.

Now, as Seth stared at the attic's popcorn ceiling, that simplicity seemed so out of reach.

Ickiness slipped down his spine and his muscles stayed taut even as he tried to melt into the bedsheets. The glow of the digital clock resting on the siblings' nightstand taunted him with every blink.

Every minute added more desperation to his endeavor but his body and mind stayed awake. He felt like screaming.

He glanced over at Kendra, but he saw nothing but rumpled sheets. Urgency flooded his veins and he ran over to her bed. A small vial of green liquid spilled out over her sheets, but he could see her hair peeking out on the floor next to the bed.

Calmer now, he walked over to the side and his heart shot up to his throat.

There she was, deathly and bloody, with her arms crossed over her chest. Painted lips unnaturally smiled and her eyes shot open. With unnatural speed, she shot up and grabbed his throat.

Sitting up in bed, Seth panted. He glanced over at Kendra's bed, and there she was, safe and sound.

Keeping his gasp down, he rushed to the bathroom and emptied his stomach.

He did not go back to sleep that night.

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Worries and anxieties filled his thoughts as the time for bed grew closer. His sluggish movements grew jittery as thoughts of what waited for him dug their claws into his mind.

If he wasn't so wrapped up in his own thoughts, maybe he would've noticed Kendra's matching dark circles.

If the adults weren't so wrapped up in post-war preserve negotiation, maybe they would have cared about their charges.

But both musings were fictional, and the terror and unease slowly crawling up his veins like a saline drip wasn't.

Random scratches blemished the popcorn ceiling and Seth's eyes slowly became unfocused as his thoughts spiraled into what-ifs. Poisoned realities of death, demons, and guilt clouded his mind and eyes until he wasn't aware of his room anymore.

Thick bars stood in front of him and water dripped from the corner of his cell. The Living Mirage. He's been here before.

Footfalls fit for a giant shook the cell's flimsy cot as Graulas stepped into view. The low lighting made Seth squint to make out the scales of the beast.

"I have to thank you, Seth. You're the dumbest human I've met in a while." Seth's retort died in his throat as his body refused to move. "I've already killed your family. I just wish you could've seen their faces when I told them what you'd done."

Terror shook his body and guilt-drenched screams ricocheted to murmurs in his closed mouth.

"It's what you do, shadowcharmer. You're a stranger to good."

The bars disappeared as Graulas moved closer. Seth wished for the barrier as inches from his face, Graulas smiled. His hot breath rolled over the kid's skin and his beard scratched Seth's cheek.

Without warning, his paralysis was suddenly gone.

He immediately turned away from the demon but came face to face with a dead man. Coulter. He was no longer in a cell, he was at Fablehaven's crumbling house.

Coulter shrugged off the wooden beam and Seth tried his hardest not to look at the man's mangled body. "I'm dead because of you."

"I swear, I didn't do it on purpose. I never wanted you to die." Tears fell and his breath caught on itself. "Coulter, please."

The dead man opened his mouth and black swirls engulfed the entire landscape.

Seth woke up. Finally. Soft grass tickled his fingers.

"Hey, Seth, you okay? You passed out there," Seth could see up Warren's nostrils. Heavy gray clouds drifted in the sky.

"Yeah," Seth tugged at a tie choking his neck. "Why am I in a tuxedo? Where am I?"

Warren extended a hand and pulled him up with a sad smile. "You're up to talk next."

Warren moved beside him and unobscured the landscape.

A coffin dominated next to a picture of Kendra smiling. His mom was crying with a microphone in hand. Oh no.

Rain began to fall, sliding down his cheeks.

"Warren?" Seth locked eyes with the man, his voice trembling. "What's happening? Why are we here?"

Warren's face fell. "You know we tried all we could."

Warren turned behind him and tried to whisper to Grandpa. "He's in denial again."

"No! This is not happening," Seth shut his eyes and put his hands over his ears. The puttering of rain got heavier, drowning out his assertions. "She's not dead! She's not dead! She's not—"

Someone shaking his shoulders pulled him out of the rainy cemetery and back into the attic. Back into warmth and reality.

"Seth! Are you okay?" Kendra's face was all twisted with worry as she sat on his bed, hands on his shoulders.

He lunged for a hug. Salty, frustrated tears wet her shoulder. She squeezed him tight.

She moved to pull back but Seth squeezed harder. "Stay."

She did just that. The world suspended as silent tears fell from Kendra's eyes. Her little brother broken down in her arms. How did everything go so wrong?

Seth pulled back and smiled as he wiped a tear from his face. The light from the clock showcasing

made him look like a blue angel. "Thanks."

"Nightmare?"

Visions of swirling black and dead faces flooded his mind like a tidal wave. "Yeah."

Kendra grimaced.

"Did I wake you up?"

"No, I wasn't asleep."

Concerns poked at the edges of Seth's consciousness at her words. Quiet breaths flew in the sacred space.

"I don't want to go to sleep." Seth locked eyes like a sailor desperately holding onto a stormy ship's railing. "I'll see you again...but different." His voice cracked on the last syllable.

The blue glow highlighted the tear tracks left on her skin. "Me too."

"Could we push our beds together? I need to be next to you. Just so I know you're alive."

She nodded and soon they went to work. They lifted the nightstand out of the way, cautious of the lamp and clock situated on top.

Quietly, they lifted and pushed the twins together, careful to mind the squeaks on the floor.

Once they were both in their beds, Seth reached over to turn the lamp, now on the floor, off.

"Wait," Kendra's voice was soft like a cotton candied cloud. "Don't turn it off."

"Okay." Seth turned back to her. "If we fall asleep right now, we can get seven hours of sleep."

Kendra swatted in his direction. "You're going to jinx us!"

Seth turned onto his back. The ceiling fan blades cut through the air with a confident swish. "Good night."

He put one hand above his pillow.

"Good night." Kendra swung a hand over to grasp his. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Funnily enough, neither woke again till breakfast.

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the end